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Tag Archive for: organization

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Get Back to Routine with These Helpful Resources

Summer vacation is coming to a close and the kids are heading back to school!  Due to vacations, sleepovers, and the unstructured nature of no school, daily routines are often disrupted over the summer months. A consistent daily routine for kids is critical to them learning responsibility, time management, and so they get a good sleep.

Therefore in September, it is important to re-establish what morning, after-school and bedtime time should look like.

While growing up, in our house, we had each of our girls “daily routines” typed, laminated and posted in the back hall. Though each differed slightly, they included:

Morning: 

  • wake up at 7:00 am
  • make beds
  • get dressed
  • eat a healthy breakfast
  • brush teeth and hair
  • pack lunch and backpack
  • out the door by 7:40


After-School: 

  • shoes and back-packs away
  • lunch boxes emptied
  • dry snacks and water bottle packed for the next day
  • paperwork from school in the “in box”
  • have a healthy snack
  • do any homework
  • then play (no technology)!


Before Bed:  

  • dinner dishes put away
  • play areas and bedroom are tidy
  • shower
  • healthy bedtime snack
  • reading time
  • lights out at 9:00 pm

Use our great free printable that can be customized for your children. This will help them to stay on track each day in the morning, after-school and before bed. Be sure to review this with the kids before implementing, confirm the expectations, and get their commitment.  You’ll be well on your way to creating a less stressful and more organized home!  

Check out more of our FREE printables for both children and adults, available on our website!

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Organization O-Tip of the Week: Think Vertical to Maximize Space

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

Did you know that being organized can help you to reduce stress?  Spring is around the corner, and with it comes Spring Cleaning!  Therefore, for the month of April, our O-Tip of the week series will share some of the best tips to help you get organized–  because an organized space is a healthier space!

If your garage is anything like mine it is used for more than simply storing your vehicles.  Sports equipment, garbage and recycling bins, lawnmowers, snowblowers and more share this space and without some strategic organization it can get quite crowded.  The best solution for an organized garage is to take advantage of vertical space.  Use wall shelves and peg boards for smaller items, and install hooks and shelves on the ceiling and walls to allow for increased space around the perimeter.

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Organization O-Tip of the Week: What to do with Those Rolls of Wrapping Paper

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

Did you know that being organized can help you to reduce stress?  Spring is around the corner, and with it comes Spring Cleaning!  Therefore, for the month of April, our O-Tip of the week series will share some of the best tips to help you get organized because an organized space is a healthier space!

Due to Birthdays, new babies, weddings, and more there always seems to be a gift to wrap, therefore in our household we always have rolls of paper, gift bags, and bows on hand.  This consumes valuable storage space and can become quite messy if not organized properly.  Why not try using vertical space to store these items?  Try large hooks or magazine holders to neatly organize your gift bags and try plastic bag holder affixed to the wall to effortlessly keep all your paper rolls together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo care of onegoodthingbyjillee.com

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Organization O-Tip of the Week: Make Room by Rolling

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

Did you know that being organized can help you to reduce stress?  Spring is around the corner, and with it comes Spring Cleaning!  Therefore, for the month of April, our O-Tip of the week series will share some of the best tips to help you get organized–  because an organized space is a healthier space!

Is it time to give your linen closet a makeover?  Create additional space and keep towels fresh by rolling and stacking them to store.  This rolling trick doesn’t just apply to bath towels but works for kitchen linens too.  Give it a try and you may end up with more spacious storage spaces.

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Organization O-Tip of the Week: Tupperware Troubles? Try This!

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

Did you know that being organized can help you to reduce stress?  Spring is around the corner, and with it comes Spring Cleaning!  Therefore, for the month of April, our O-Tip of the week series will share some of the best tips to help you get organized because an organized space is a healthier space!

Leftovers are great, but all the food storage containers required can sometimes make a disorganized mess in your kitchen cupboards and drawers.  Without some organization how will you ever be able to find a matching lid?  Tackle your tupperware problems with these smart storage solutions care of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.

Better Homes and Gardens:  10 Genius Solutions for Food Storage Containers

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Organization O-Tip of the Week: Take It One Day at a Time

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

Did you know that being organized can help you to reduce stress?  Spring is around the corner, and with it comes Spring Cleaning!  Therefore, for the month of April, our O-Tip of the week series will share some of the best tips to help you get organized because an organized space is a healthier space!

Spring cleaning and organization can be rewarding once finished, but a daunting task before you begin.  Don’t stress and remember that it doesn’t all have to happen in one day.  In fact, we suggest stretching it out by focusing on one area/room/closet/drawer (whatever you can handle) each day.

Need more accountability?  Try creating a daily schedule for the month with one space (drawer/closet/room) per day.  Crossing it off at the end of the day provides a great feeling of accomplishment!

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The Lifechanging Magic of Tidying Up

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

I was raised in a very tidy family.  My grandfather had polio and thus my father was raised in a home where clutter was not an option, because if my grandfather tripped on something “lying around” he could be seriously hurt.  My grandmother took it to some extremes (like waxing her garage floor), but the net result was a tidy dad that instilled the benefits of being organized on me.

I am very environmentally driven.  I have a hard time being productive or functional if my space is uncomfortable.  I keep my office, home and car reasonably organized.  I know where the bills are that I need to pay, the ones that I have already paid, where my spare car keys are, and what I have in the fridge and freezer that could pass as dinner.  I can usually answer the “mom, where is the ???” question and keep commonly used items in consistent places.  I label things to make search and locate easier, and so that I can blame the kid responsible to avoid the “wasn’t me” response (when they were little they had one color each for bowls, plates and cups and they still have different colored towels). Having four teens and four pets, sure our house is in constant need of tidying, and getting my kids on the tidy train hasn’t always been easy.  I try to give them some freedom over their bedroom, but once a week it needs to be “cleanable” and we have a special needs dog with an affinity for smelly socks (not clean ones), so at the least, they need to keep their dirty clothes safely stored in their “dog-can’t-reach” laundry bin.

I believe though that being organized is more than a skill, it is also a lifestyle.  Like being active, or being a non-smoker, deciding to be organized is a conscious choice, then it requires commitment to get and stay there.

But like all “lifestyle choices”, this too can get derailed.  As an occupational therapist “organization” often is incorporated into our treatment of clients, and this takes many forms.  Sometimes it is organizing items into reachable places from a mobility device, or to conserve energy and reduce the pain caused from lifting the heavy pots from the bottom cupboard. Sometimes it is mail, email, and paperwork to ensure urgent items get addressed and bills continue to get paid.  Maybe it is just putting like items together to make it easier and more efficient to find things (especially with cognitive impairment or depression that can make initiation, motivation, and memory impaired).  If we are gearing up for a home renovation to address accessibility needs, sometimes purging, sorting and storing or discarding items is necessary to make room for the upcoming changes.

Marie Kondo (www.konmari.com) has become a Netflix, YouTube and internet sensation with her “Life Changing Art of Tidying Up” book and series.  She coaches only keeping items that “bring joy” and offers some suggestions on how to sort, fold and emotionally process keeping things we love, and letting go of the things we don’t. While I am not sure filing a utility bill, organizing my doggie poop bags, or emptying the overflowing bathroom garbage are things and items that “bring me joy”, I love her approach to folding and agree that your home should be filled with items that reduce, not increase, your level of stress. In the end, being organized is efficient because when you can find things you are not spending that emotional, cognitive and physical energy “looking around aimlessly” all the while getting frustrated, or worse, tired and angry.  The time you save by being able to navigate and find the things in your own home quickly can be spent on other meaningful, purposeful and joyful activities.  And that is where I agree with Marie that organizing can help us to “choose joy”.

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The A to Z of OT: O is For… Organization

We all have different levels of energy, tolerance and mental attention.  If suffering from chronic pain, brain injury, or another chronic condition, chances are the DD battery that you used to have has been replaced with some AAA’s.  This means that daily activities will take more time, more energy, and you will need to recharge sooner.  So, considering this, do you really want to spend your valuable energy looking for stuff? 

Often the focus of occupational therapy becomes helping people to organize their activities, their stuff or their time.  Schedules and consistency are keys to helping people to understand the size of their battery and the amount of units each activity takes.  This can be difficult when working with clients who did not need to be organized before an injury or illness, but the necessity of this following cannot be ignored.   Even small steps to help people to be more organized can have a huge impact.

Learn more about the importance of organization and tips to declutter in our previous post, Hoarding and Decluttering:  10 Suggestions to Free your Home and Mind.

 

October is Occupational Therapy Month and to celebrate we will be sharing a new series called the A to Z of OT.  In our attempts to further educate the public about what Occupational Therapists do we will be highlighting twenty-six of the awesome ways OTs provide Solutions for Living.  

We encourage you to follow along and to add to the discussion by highlighting other awesome things OTs help with for each corresponding letter!

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O-Tip of the Week: Out with the Old

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

Often the focus of occupational therapy becomes helping people to organize their activities, their stuff or their time.  So, for the month of April, our series will be all about organization.

It’s hard to stay organized when you simply have too much stuff!  Here are some great tips to help you to be out with the old on a regular basis:

  1.       Say yes:  when you get a call from an organization doing a pick up of used clothing and household items, always say yes.  This will force you to go through a closet or drawer and donate items you no longer need.
  2.       One in one out rule:   this should apply to both kids and adults!  For kids, with each new toy or book they receive have them select an old one to donate to a child in need.  For adults, with each new article of clothing that enters your closet, remove an old one and donate it.
  3.       Let the seasons be your reminder:  each season clean out your closet and drawers and remove items by asking yourself the following questions:

a.      Does this item still fit?

b.      Have I worn this item in the last 12 months?

c.      If I went shopping NOW would I buy this item again?

If you answer NO to any of those… say see you later!

 

 

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O-Tip of the Week: Stay Organized with a ‘Command Center’

Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living. 

Often the focus of occupational therapy becomes helping people to organize their activities, their stuff or their time.  So, for the month of April our series will be all about organization.

To get your family working together like a well-oiled machine create a “command center.”  Family command center must haves include:

–        A calendar (be sure to write each member’s items in a different colour)

–        Storage for each member’s paperwork / important items

–        A dry erase or chalkboard for leaving messages and reminders for each other

For more ideas on what to include in your command center, and design inspiration check out Good Housekeeping:  Command Center Ideas.